Gulpur Hydropower Project (Pakistan)

Mira Power Limited ("MPL" or the "Company") is an Independent Power Producer (the IPP) which is planning to develop Gulpur Hydropower Project (the "Project") in the Azad Jammu & Kashmir (the "AJK"). The Project will utilize the flow of Poonch River, the full length of which within AJK has been notified as a national park by the AJK Wildlife and Fisheries Department in 2010. MPL engaged Hagler Bailly Pakistan to conduct an assessment of potential impacts from the Project and to identify mitigation and management measures to address potential impacts.

Regulatory and Institutional Framework

The applicable regulations and guidelines for this ESIA include laws in AJK including those that have been enacted in Pakistan but have been adopted by the AJK Legislature, international conventions, and ADB and IFC Guidelines. The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Environmental Protection Act, 2000 is the principal legislative tool used for regulating environmental protection in the state of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. This legislation provides for two types of environmental assessments: IEEs and EIAs. EIAs are carried out for projects that have a potentially "significant" environmental impact, and IEEs are conducted for relatively smaller projects with a relatively less significant impact. An EIA was prepared and submitted to the AJK Environmental Protection Agency (AJK EPA) for the Gulpur Hydropower Project under this legislation. The AJK EPA reviewed the EIA and granted an approval for construction of the Project. Click here for a Full Report